Although coffee extraction methods and/or processes have been known for approximately a century, modern extraction methods or techniques remain deficient in various respects. In this regard, during prior art or conventional coffee extraction techniques, certain commercially useful and/or valuable coffee by-products are lost or wasted. For example, aromatization and/or bio-active products or particles are often lost or at least not captured or retained at desirable levels. Because such products can be used in the production or enhancement of other commercially valuable food products (including that such aromatization products can be added back to coffee powders or liquids), for example, it would be desirable to achieve a method or process for coffee bean extraction which improves the retainment or capture rate of such coffee by-products. Moreover, it would be desirable to capture such by-products at a time and in a manner which did not result in undesirable levels of degradation.
In addition to the above drawbacks, prior known coffee extraction techniques can result in coffee powders or liquids (e.g., for use as or in so-called “instant coffee” products) which possess undesirable flavor characteristics. For example, such coffee extraction products, produced by prior art techniques, often contain excess or undesirable quantities of lipids which, in turn, result in coffee products which are less flavorful than preferred (and which may be rancid in flavor, for example). Improved coffee extraction techniques or processes which reduce the presence of such undesirable flavors (such as by decreasing the amount of resulting lipids in coffee end products) are desired.
In view of the above enumerated drawbacks and/or desires for improvements in the art, it is a purpose of the herein described invention to address one or more of such drawbacks and/or desires as well as, or in the alternative, other needs which will become more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the present disclosure.